The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has asked relevant agencies to quickly take measures to tackle congestion at Cat Lai Port - the biggest port in Vietnam.

The number of vehicles and volume of cargo passing through the port have increased rapidly in recent times, exceeding the capacity of its infrastructure, according to Ho Chi Minh City Police.

Cat Lai Port has been handling over 70 per cent of all import and export containers in Vietnam over recent months. An estimated 22,000 vehicles pass through the port each day.

Operations have been limited since August at the nearby Truong Tho Port Complex, including the Phuong Long ICD 3, Tay Nam, Transimex, Sotrans, and Phuc Long Ports, with vehicles and cargo being moved on to Cat Lai Port, leading to even more overloading.

It has also affected customs clearance given the limited number of customs officers, resulting in delays.

Cat Lai Port is Vietnam’s largest, handling over 85 per cent of containers in the southern region and for some time over 50 per cent of the whole country’s containers.

Phu Huu Port, which is 3 km from Cat Lai, also suffers regularly from overloading and traffic and cargo congestion.